The 5th Birthday

Caleb's birthday this year started a couple days early, when he got to stand up in Primary at church and have all the kids sing a birthday song to him. He even got to stick his face inside a cupcake to really solidify the occasion.

Yes, he loved it. :) (thanks for thinking to take a picture, Kenn!)

Then, the night before the big day, Daddy gave in to Caleb's request for a blanket-and-couch-cushion fort. Time of his life. :)

And then finally, THE BIG DAY!!

It began with Caleb seeing his cake for the first time
(and I can't decide if he likes it or not, based on his expression).

After going to the movie thee-ate-er (as Caleb calls it) to see 'Cars 2,' we went to Subway for some lunch. So far, Caleb was already having the best. day. ever. (also how he said it)

No idea what this face was about, but he insisted I capture it.

And then, as if that wasn't enough for a newly-turned 5-year-old, we went to The Big Bounce! The boys should've been pretty tired, but they were going strong for a good 2 1/2 hours.

This shot of Caleb made Kenn sad, because he said that Caleb looks so tall and grown up. :*(

This shot of Kenn also made Kenn sad. But it just made me laugh. A lot. :)

And then, they all got on the same slide together...and things got crazy...
CRAZY FUN!!!

When we finally peeled the boys off the inflatables and went home, we turned on a movie (they insisted on 'Cars,' just trying to keep the day thematic, I guess).

And then they all promptly fell asleep.

I woke them all up in time for dinner, which was noodles, sauce, meatballs, and peas & carrots, per Caleb's request.

Then it was time to open presents!

Working on the one from G & G North

A cool rhyming word game

From G & G Smith, books with dragons in them :)

From his brother

From Mom & Dad, a helicopter mission control air pad station type thing

Also from mom and dad...



Present from BFF Garrett

Binoculars for finding aliens!

And then we sang to the birthday boy and he blew out the candles, while his brother protested loudly in the background...



After much eating of cake and dairy-free frozen dessert, and cleaning red frosting off of some messy mouths, we let the kids just play for a bit with the new toys.

And then I got a picture with my 5-year-old (sniff). :*)

And daddy got one, too.

How old is Caleb now??

And he looks it. He is so grown-up, so tall, SOOO talkative, and always curious.
He asks questions constantly, and wants to know everyone and tell anyone he meets about all the exciting things in his life.
Seriously NOT shy. Will, and DOES, talk to ANYONE.
Starting kindergarten in a couple months. :(
Such a good big brother, loves to play with Beckett and rough-house. These 2 are
definite buddies.
Right now, loves dragons, dinosaurs, airplanes, fighter jets, still likes Thomas and trains, and volcanoes.
LOVES books, will sit and just look at them for hours (he's gonna love it once he can read!).
Likes having a lot of attention (no idea where THAT comes from... ;)
Knows the days of the week and the dates now, and is constantly asking what we're doing on a specific day. He always needs to know what is coming up, what we're doing next.
Can eat a ton, I mean it. I have seen this kid pack in so much food, on more than one occasion.
He gets that from his mama. :D

Caleb, we love you so much! You are becoming such a fantastic little man, and we love watching you grow. Thanks for being our sweet little boy!
Happy 5th Birthday!!!

How To Make a Volcano Cake with a Dragon Coming Out!

Not that anyone necessarily CARES how to make a volcano cake with a dragon coming out, but just in case they did.

Bake some cakes. Preferably chocolate.
You need a bundt cake and 1 9-inch round cake.
Place bundt cake on plate or cake tray, and shave off rounded sides with serrated knife.
Then, using fingers, create divots and valleys through which blazing hot lava might run.
Save shavings and divot and valley crumbs.

Now, shove chocolate frosting under bottom edge of bundt cake all the way around.
Mix some more chocolate frosting into the shavings and crumbs.
Shove frosting/crumb mixture under and around bottom of cake to make it
look more 'volcano-y'.

Using a small dessert-ish size plate as a reference, cut a circle out of the middle of the 9-inch round cake. Using a cup or something else smaller, cut another circle out of THAT circle.
Place the ring of cake on top of the bundt cake, attaching with chocolate frosting.

With serrated knife, shave edges off ring of cake to blend seamlessly into
previously shaved bundt cake.

Make more divots and valleys on sides of ring of cake to blend into previously
divot-ed and valley-ed bundt cake.

Figure out how to get a dragon to stand upright in the middle of the cake (we used tiny plastic cups with holes punched through the bottoms, and lucky for us, the dragon's tail is removable).

Mix white frosting with red gel food coloring.

And then add some more red gel food coloring.

And then add the rest of it, because let's face it, that frosting needs to be really really red.

Spoon really really red frosting over top of cake, and down into divots and valleys.

Ta-Da

And yes, I am wearing a wine-colored nice-casual top with light blue hospital pants in these pictures.
No, I don't normally wear those things together, but apparently that day I went for comfort.
And yes, I was comfortable. Thank you for asking. :)

Sunday Best

Sometimes, my boys just look super handsome, and I feel the need to
take pictures of them to brag. :)

LOVE B's face here. :D

I asked them to make kissy-faces--they obliged!

Kenn caught these pics of Caleb during sacrament meeting. So studious and grown up. :*)

Uncle Dee

This guy right here, in this picture with Caleb,

is Kenn's Uncle Dee.

Uncle Dee is so cool. :) He and Aunt Kathy live up in Copperas Cove, which is about an hour-an hour and a half north of us. Every so often we get to see them, usually when they're coming down to Austin for something, and we love their visits. They are some of the most colorful people I have ever met, and they've had some amazing experiences. Dee was actually a U.S. Navy diver for a long time.
Now apparently, when you're in the navy you learn some hand signals to tell people which way to move things. And Caleb asked Uncle Dee to play with his hooking crane with him, so Uncle Dee tried to direct him, Navy-style. :)

I just loved that Uncle Dee was willing to get down on the floor and play with the boys. He seemed to actually have fun with it, too, and the boys loved it. Good memories. :)

Uncle Dee and Aunt Kathy are the only family we actually have here in Texas, and we've loved getting to know them better since we moved here. I mean, you've gotta appreciate a guy who knows how to direct a hooking crane. :)